(Glue-2108) BEx Query Fetcher (BICS)

The BEx Query Fetcher allows you to use BEx Query as a data source using BI Consumer Services. For data read provide the BEx Query name. The BEx Query Fetcher supports filtering on query variables.

Prerequisites

• SAP BW release from 740 SP19.
• Make sure that the additional transport with BEx Query Fetcher based on BICS functionality is installed on the system.
• Before creating BEx Query Fetcher, make sure you have at least an active and consistent Variable Variant created in Query Monitor (transaction RSRT). This is needed for the initialization of the BEx Query structure due to some limitations of BICS functionality.

Creation of a BEx Query Fetcher

Perform the steps outlined in How to Create a Fetcher Object with the BEx Query Fetcher (BICS) option selected in Component implementation the a dropdown of step 4.

Activation of a BEx Query Fetcher

After creation, the object is in the saved state.

Mandatory inputs to fill before the activation

• BEx Query
  • name of the BEx Query for data read

After the BEx Query parameter is filled, the variables will be loaded into the variable filter definition. In the current version, all the variables will be marked for selection.

Optional inputs to fill before the activation

BEx Query Fetcher allows you to change the navigational state of a query with which it will be executed. The functionality is similar to the drill-down of free characteristics in Query Monitor (transaction RSRT). If you want to change the default navigational state of a query, you can drag and drop query elements between three screens - Rows, Columns, Free Characteristics.

This might be useful when the structure of your BEx Query is not supported (check "BEx Query structure requirements" section below) or you want to include additional characteristics into data output.

BEx Query structure requirements:

• Row axis must not have a Key Figure structure. However, other types of structures (e.g. structures with characteristics or formulas) can be in the rows.
• The column axis can contain only the Key Figure structure. Having any additional characteristic or structure in this axis will lead to an error.
• All active hierarchies in characteristics in the row axis will be disabled automatically right before the extraction
• If a characteristic in the row axis uses a Key Figure as an attribute, the data for that Key Figure will come into one field, e.g. "EUR 1.23", which means the value and currency will not be separated into two fields.
• Due to the complexity of some Calculated Key Figures and Formulas, it is sometimes impossible to figure out if these types of query elements have any unit or currency.
• Calculated Key Figure or Formula with currency and unit in one cell (e.g. "EUR/KM") is not supported.

Other restrictions:

• Customer-exits (CMOD) in query variables. For variables of that type, you'll need to fill the selection values manually, i.e. they will not be prefilled as in the Query Monitor screen (transaction RSRT).

Use of Bex Query Fetcher (BICS) with Glue Consumer

In order to use BEx Query Fetcher along with Glue Consumer, the corresponding Glue Table must contain fields imported using from "Bex Query (BICS)" the option as you can see on the screenshot below:

After you confirm the selection, an additional popup with the navigational state of the query will appear. There you can either manually drag and drop query elements the same way as in BEx Query Fetcher (BICS) or if you already created a Fetcher, specify its name into the corresponding parameter above ALV screen and hit "Enter" to import already saved the navigational structure from the Fetcher. After confirming the selection, the query elements will be transformed into table fields and imported into Glue Table.

You can also use search-help for the field "Import nav. state from BEx Query (BICS) Fetcher" to display all Fetchers which use the same Query as a source and select the desired one.